Our thanks to Jayson McConnell for stopping in and sharing his great thoughts on airway management. We have been content as a field with teaching poor techniques for managing airways, and it’s high time we stop propagating the bullshit.

Getting the BLS Airway Management Right

It all starts with positioning!

A slight increase of 20-30° can prevent airway contamination from vomit.

Creates better alignment with airways providing for more natural ventilation.

Without these devices, there is no practical way to estimate how much tidal volume is actually being delivered with each breath.

9/10, the least experienced person is bagging the patient and providing way too much tidal volume and no PEEP. By doing this, we can damage lung physiology, while simultaneously not increasing our oxygen delivery.

Average adults need around 450-500ml for a normal tidal volume; most BVMs range from 2-3 times that… why are we still using this method?